Last season, the story of the Southern New Hampshire University men's basketball team was inconsistency. With a group that featured nine underclassmen, the Penmen started out 3-4, then had a stretch in which they went 10-3 to improve to 13-7, then closed out the season 2-7 to finish 15-14, another winning record for head coach Stan Spirou, but not quite up to expectations.
Still, SNHU closed out the season strong, upsetting Saint Rose in the first round of the Northeast-10 tournament then nearly knocking off Merrimack to reach the conference semifinals for the second straight season. With 10 returning players, there is some reason for optimism for the Penmen in 2010-11.
Senior Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla.) and junior Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) will serve as team captains this season. Vejraska, in his second year as captain, averaged 7.1 points and 4.6 rebounds per game last season while also ranking fourth on the team in three-pointers with 21. Vejraska had a season-high 19 points in a win over Mercy. Stapleton, in his fourth year with the program after redshirting his freshman campaign, has led the Penmen in scoring in each of the past two seasons and last year led SNHU in both scoring (13.3 ppg) and rebounding (7.0 rpg) while reaching double figures in scoring 22 times, including a career-best 28 in the NE-10 tourney loss to Merrimack.
The Penmen have just one other senior on the roster in shooting guard Alex Carmona (Miami, Fla.). Last season Carmona appeared in seven games, while in 2008-09 he appeared in 10 contests, recording a season-best five points in a win at Southern Connecticut.
In addition to Stapleton, the Penmen boast three other juniors on the roster, all guards. Lucas Croteau (Rochester, N.H.), a product of Spaulding HS, has filled a role as a spot shooter over his first two seasons but will be looked to for more production this winter. Croteau had a season-high 13 points in SNHU's NE-10 first round win over Saint Rose and has knocked down 33 three-pointers over his first two seasons.
Marcus Matthews (Valley Stream, N.Y.) saw time in the starting lineup eight times and played in all but one game a season ago, averaging 7.4 points per game, good for fourth on the team. He reached double figures in scoring 10 times, including a season-best 18 points in a win over Saint Michael's in December.
Josh Morgan-Green (Upper Marlboro, Md.) was Southern New Hampshire's leading three-point shooter last season, knocking down 42 while finishing as the team's third-leading scorer at 9.1 points per game. In December and early January, Morgan-Green scored at least 20 points four times in a five-game stretch and for the season, reached double figures in scoring 10 times.
Rounding out the returning players are four sophomores. Corey Boland (Union, N.J.), one of SNHU's three true post threats along with Stapleton and Vejraska, appeared in 27 games last season and averaged 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds per game. Boland had a season-high 11 points in a setback to Stonehill and shot 55.6% (55-99) from the floor for the season.
Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) started 14 games at the point as a freshman last season and averaged 5.7 points and 2.2 assists per game last season. He reached double figures in scoring seven times and knocked down 28 three-pointers, good for second on the squad. Josh Last (Hooksett, N.H.), a Manchester Central HS product who walked on, started 15 games last season and averaged 3.9 points per game, finishing with a career-best 16 points in a road win at Saint Michael's late in the season. Billy Marsden (Pelham, N.H.) appeared in 19 games as a freshman, totaling a season-best nine points in a win over Concordia.
The Penmen welcome three freshmen to the roster this season. CJ Marriro (Boston, Mass.) redshirted last season, practicing with the team. A 2009 graduate of Newton North HS, Marriro was an All-League selection for the Tigers. Nikola Canic (Belgrade, Serbia) comes to SNHU from Sports High School, while Jonathan Grenier (Pembroke, N.H.) was a First Team All-State selection as a senior at Pembroke Academy in 2009. Last season he spent a postgraduate year at Notre Dame Prep.
Southern New Hampshire opens its season on Saturday, November 13 when it hosts Thomas College in a 4:00 game. In that game, Spirou, in his 26th season on the Penmen sideline, will be looking for his 500th career victory. Four days later, SNHU opens its Northeast-10 slate with a road game across town at Saint Anselm.
Once again, the Northeast-10 figures to be one of the most challenging leagues in the country. 10 of SNHU's 26 games are against teams that reached the NCAA Tournament a season ago, including Bentley, which reached the Division II semifinals. Six NE-10 squads won at least 20 games last season, with 10 of the 16 schools finishing .500 or better.
